Stop Using DACA As Political Tool

Perhaps some liberal voters will be fooled by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s “coup” on Monday. Thoughtful Americans will not.

After a weekend “government shutdown” provoked by Schumer, D-N.Y., and fellow Democrat hardliners, the Senate voted Monday to approve a spending bill that should get all federal agencies back up and running.

That came after Schumer convinced Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to agree formally to begin debate on an immigration bill by Feb. 8.

Such a discussion was going to happen anyway. If not by Feb. 8, it would have begun soon after. Schumer knows that. In effect, his deal with McConnell was solely so Democrats could avoid taking blame for the “shutdown.”

Schumer and company had insisted that the spending bill needed to get government in full operation had to include provisions for nearly 800,000 illegal immigrants permitted to stay in the United States through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

DACA, established under former President Barack Obama, clearly is unconstitutional. President Donald Trump has said he will end it by March 5.

That gives Congress plenty of time to enact a constitutional replacement for DACA. Again, it would have happed without Schumer’s grandstanding. Both Trump and many Republican lawmakers have said they support a bill allowing DACA beneficiaries to stay in the United States.

Expect Democrat leaders to use the DACA issue for more political theater. Let us hope it does not stand in the way of enacting the comprehensive immigration bill the nation needs.